The Hindu Business Line : Heavyweights drive Sensex to new high

SHARE prices rose for the third consecutive day on Wednesday with the benchmark BSE-30 Sensex piercing the 10,200-mark for the first time ever and closed at a record high of 10,224.32, up 56.21 points from Tuesday.

The previous high closing was 10,173.25, achieved on February 13.

Heavyweights ONGC, HDFC and BHEL led the rally, but the total decliners (1,677 stocks) outpaced advancers (825) on BSE.

The BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices ended lower. The BSE Midcap index ended at 4,755.84 points (down 5.43 points) while BSE Smallcap index closed at 6,147.42 points (down 47.81 points) on Wednesday.

The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty index rose 15.30 points (0.5 per cent) to close at a record high of 3,050.80. The previous record closing high on the NSE's Nifty index was 3,041.15, posted on February 13.

"Despite the record high, the markets are waiting for a clear direction. The Budget might provide some clues," said a dealer with a local brokerage.

Foreign funds, he said, are going cautious in February. On Tuesday, FIIs were net buyers for $28.20 million (Rs 125.30 crore). Mutual funds were net sellers for Rs 18.75 crore on Tuesday.

Rupee falls: The rupee fell by more than 20 paise against the dollar. The domestic currency opened at 44.46/48 and closed at 44.64/65, down from Tuesday's 44.4250. Dealers said that month-end demand from importers and banks drove the rupee down. The fall of the euro to below $1.1900 and a drop of 41 basis points in the GBP also caused the rupee to follow suit, they said.

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